Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Batterys

[Ahopper]

ok so i have been having starting issues lately. both my batterys were only a year old. i took them back to wall mart and they said that one of them was bad and would replace it under warrenty. well the problem is that they dont make that exact battery but one that will fit. it is acually much larger. (fills in the tray) will it be a problem running two different sized batterys? the amps are different too. i belive the new one has 750 cca and the old one had 700.

 

[MMcCallie]

I have been told by battery companies that it is not good to mismatch batteries. Dealers have told me otherwise. I don't know why it wouldn't be OK other than for charging reasons, perhaps one would somehow drain the other but i'm speculating with no factual knowledge. I highly recommend Odyssey batteries if you decide it is worth it to upgrade.

 

[Grizzly]

On any truck with a diesel engine when you replace one battery, you must replace the other battery with the same battery. It's in the Owners Guide and that is what all expert recommend.

 

[WDixon27]

if they are in good condition they will be ok, the problem comes when one has a problem it can kill the other battery, like it one shorts out it will suck the other one down too and likely puke acid all over your fender due to the power of the other battery feeding the short (looks like it happened to my truck at one time, a good portion of the paint was gone from my left fender when i got it, something i've seen on several trucks)

 

[surfbeetle]

I had one battery go bad under warranty and I took both batteries back and got a new matched set. If Wal-Mart won't do that, take in your owner's manual or whatever documentation that states both batteries must be changed as a set and speak to the manager. If the truck didn't cause the battery fault, but it was one of the batteries that was sub-par, then they should replace them as a matched set.

 

[tgordon]

If one battery was bad, chances are the other battary has been compremised to a certain extent to compensate for it. Hence the new one will do the same. As far as two battaries of th esame, we had a 706 that had a 4EH and a 3EH on it in series. I later shoehorned a second 4eh into it for fun. The other item of concern to me is why the battery failed and if they are both from the same batch doeas the other one have a hidden problem that might show up later. As previously stated I would push the fact with them especially since I am willing to bet not many of the people working there will know mutch about the topic. If they will not replace both get your money back and I would go for a pair of Optimas.



Troy

 

[hsmith]

Sure like my Odyssey's!!

 

[Ahopper]

the old battery i replaced and the one that is still in the truck were from two different walmarts. i got them the same day but each store only had one. i didnt buy them either at the time. they were free replacment ones. about the acid... the funny thing is that the driver battery was very clean with no acid and it was the bad one. the passenger is leaking and i would have figured that it was the bad one. the reason i cant take them back is because i do not belive i have the receipts any more. i will try to take the other old one back but i dont know if they will do it.

 

[Matt42]

the old battery i replaced and the one that is still in the truck were from two different walmarts. i got them the same day but each store only had one. i didnt buy them either at the time. they were free replacment ones. about the acid... the funny thing is that the driver battery was very clean with no acid and it was the bad one. the passenger is leaking and i would have figured that it was the bad one. the reason i cant take them back is because i do not belive i have the receipts any more. i will try to take the other old one back but i dont know if they will do it.

My OEM batteries lasted 18 months. Because of the, ahem, somewhat warm climate here, getting 24 months out of a regular lead-acid battery seems to be pretty good. With a one-battery vehicle, just choose a place where you want to keep getting batteries, and trade the dead one in through the pro-rata warranty that most come with. That works great if you (1) have just one battery, (2) don't care about corrosion, and (3) don't worry about where you will be when the battery dies, usually without warning.



Since I sometimes go places where the road service call would take several hours and cost $$$, I replaced the OEM batteries with Optima Red Tops in late 1997. They cost twice as much as the WalMart or Checker kind, but they were worth it. By May, 2002 (about 4 years), the Optima batteries were doing just fine, but we were headed on a long road trip. I took the 1997 Optimas out of the truck and installed them on my travel trailer as the trailer's power batteries, and I put the new Optima batteries in my truck.



Now it's 2007, and the 2002 Optima batteries in the truck are just fine, and the 1997 Optima batteries on the trailer are also just fine. None of the four have a speck of corrosion, and they never have. Those batteries cost much, much more, but were worth every dime.

 

[SSell]

optimas work good in arizona, but being shorter than the mopars you can very easily screw the holdown bolt right through the electrical harness that runs under the tray (cant remember which side of truck). truck starts great but you'll have no lights if you dont pay attention!

 

[BTanzini]

Ahopper, as long as both batteries where sized for the diesel engine you should have no problem. I had wal mart batteries in mine for 3 years then when they went bad I went with Autozone which lasted 3 years. Just keep an eye on the old battery, occastionaly have it tested by isolating it from the other. Hope this helps.

 

[BK]

Some babbling at the keyboard about batteries... ...



When running multiple cells in a string or parallel, you must replace all cells at the same time. The only time you don't is if you had spare cells sitting on the side, on a maintenance charge/cycling of the same make/model/chemistry/build date. Build dates are important since chemistry and construction can be different effecting the impedance of the battery. The impedance of the battery will effect how it shares loads with the one next to it.



In our case, when one is weak, the other is supplying more than is should during starting. It's been stressed and now it's weaker than you know. Now your placing a stronger battery next to it to replaced the "bad one". That new battery will be supplying more than it should since the "old good one" has been stressed from supplying more than it's share while living with the "bad one"... ... ... ... and so it goes on.

At best, you'll just keep replacing one of the batteries every other year or so until you replace the pair at the same time.

At worse, one will out gas finally and at best you'll have a wrecked fender and hood... at worse??? don't be around it when it out gases. .



With good maintenance, you can get a good life out of a decent battery.

I just replaced my stock batteries on my 99. Made 7. 5 years on that original set. One was ok the other was bad.

I average about 5-7 years on a decent battery in my cars and trucks.

Exide, InterState, Optima are what I typically use.



I've had my run ins with Sears... considering one of the big three always make them for them... . go figure.



Get 5 years out of a lead acid wet cell car battery and it doesn't owe you a thing.



Should be able to do better than that with a good AGM battery.



I was going to go with the Optima's but found another AGM battery with as good or better specs and better warranty, and I couldn't find any mass complaining/flaming about them on the web. I've had Optima's before. I've had no complaints myself, but find a lot of flaming about them on the web.



From Exide the AGMs are the Orbitals.

ORB78DT-84 , center top terminals, and side GM style on there as well. The GM terminals are great for accessory hook ups.



Exide Technologies Exide Select Orbital



I got a good deal from my NAPA dealer. A few bucks more than the InterStates wet cells spec'd for our Gen2 Oil Burners.



AID Auto had the Orbitals and wouldn't budge on price, same price as the Optimas.

Been running them for a couple of months now, very strong, very happy with them. I've already had a couple of 43 deg mornings. Now back up to 70. . freekin strange weather.



Extreme heat and cold is the death of a battery. Heat just outright kills them (1st order effect of over-charging and overloading), cold diminishes capacity.

AGMs are more forgiving with the extremes.



Keeping your terminals and connections clean and good'n tight is very important. The voltage drop will cause harder starting, and more of a strain on your battery = shorter life.

Same goes of the cables/connections for ground and to the starter.



The AGMs aren't wet cells ( wet cells are the basic car batteries we all know and love).

The AGMs have their chemistry suspended in a mat that inpart makes up the "spiral wound cell".

Wet cells normally vent a bit, and carry a bit of the acid with it. . so hence the corrision that always needs attention on the terminals.

 

[Matt42]

optimas work good in arizona, but being shorter than the mopars you can very easily screw the holdown bolt right through the electrical harness that runs under the tray (cant remember which side of truck). truck starts great but you'll have no lights if you dont pay attention!

I shortened the hold down bolts by about an inch and cleaned off the ends. No worries.